1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to VoIP integrating system and method. More particularly, the present invention relates to VoIP integrating system and method for a VoIP phone and PC-based softphone.
2. Description of Related Art
Internet phone services available in the market now include a dedicated Internet phone (VoIP phone), a PC-based softphone, and a gateway. The dedicated Internet phone and signaling gateway are internet phone devices that can make or receive internet phone calls directly, whereas the PC-based softphone has to be installed on a PC that's turned on. Since the dedicated Internet phone provides users with the experience that's a lot like the experience of using an ordinary desktop telephone, conventional desktop telephone users prefer this option. On the other hand, the PC-based softphone provides better mobility than the dedicated Internet phone, and also provides richer and fancier multi-media user interfaces, so it attracts a certain group of users.
The dedicated Internet phone supports VoIP protocols such as SIP and H.323, while the PC-based softphone programs are Skype, MSN and YAHOO Messenger. MSN and YAHOO Messenger provide messaging services additionally. The dedicated Internet phone can only support one type of protocol at one time due to the hardware limitation. For the PC-based softphone, a user can install multiple software programs on a PC to support various types of protocols.
When it comes to process various types of VoIP protocols, a way is using a designated server to process the exchange between the various types of protocols and audio codec. For example, Microsoft's OCS server can process the exchange between MSN and SIP. However, this method only works in a business environment, and not all VoIP protocols are open to the exchange. For example, Skype is not open to the exchange of protocols.
For the foregoing reasons, there is a need to offer a system or method to solve the stated problem.